Human, Social and Political Sciences

Dr Marissa Quie is a College Lecturer in Politics at Magdalene and teaches a range of subjects across the Faculty of Human, Social, and Political Sciences.

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As a working-class scholar, Matthew draws from a wide range of disciplines to study and challenge social inequalities. His research is centred on examining neoliberal political economy, its origins and associations with financialisation, and the class and cultural dynamics of these processes. His work makes use of a variety of research methods, and cuts across social science scholarship in sociology, cultural studies, economics, politics, geography, and labour history.

Currently, Matthew's research interests lie in two main strands. The first strand focuses on the way politicians and the media utilise narratives to influence policy, particularly in moments of crises, and the consequences of these processes. The second, and more dominant, strand extends his enquires into social stratification processes within credit markets, and how they shape social inequalities.

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Dr James is Lucy Cavendish Director of Studies in Social Anthropology. His research ranges from contemporary urban development in India and Latin America to the history and archeology of farming in Mexico and Cambridgeshire. As a consultant in management and interpretation of historical resources, he negotiated and designed the local authorities' cultural heritage strategy for Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire. He is an avid exponent of adult education and has led Cambridge alumni on study tours in Latin America. His degrees are from Oxford, London, Birmingham and Michigan.

I am Swedish, and worked in London, France and Taiwan before coming to Lucy Cavendish. I went on to do an MA in Public Policy at York University, and specialises in communications. I now work as a press officer at the European Commission which in practical terms means that I am given boring texts and make them interesting. My policy area is higher education. I loved the intellectual challenge of being a Cambridge student and would happily do it all over again! The first memory of College that springs to mind is rowing with the spectacularly bad Lucy rowing team on the equally spectacularly beautiful Cam at sunrise. I believe we aren’t half as bad anymore...

I originally dropped out of school before completing GCSEs; later, I worked in radio and completed an Access to HE Diploma at the Manchester College. Before coming to Cambridge I was a little uneasy about how I would relate to other students, but Lucy is a special college because many women have come from a non-traditional route like myself. The pastoral and academic support has been fantastic. You know that staff genuinely care about their students and their individual development. I have enjoyed the challenge of Sociology, in particular, and also the interactions with other students and supervisors. The supervision system is good because of how personalised it is. This makes sure areas that I need to cover in depth are discussed thoroughly. The course in first year was a huge change to anything I'd experienced academically before so it took time to adjust, but I learned to thrive.

I studied film-making at Ngee Ann Polytechnic and had made two documentaries in China when I decided I wanted to consider the social issues I had encountered there in more depth. Lucy Cavendish has a vibrant and non-pretentious atmosphere; the diverse mix and friendliness of international students and staff and the cohesiveness of college members are just the tip of the iceberg! I feel most at home here, the facilities are great, and I know that support will be given to me wherever and whenever I need it. The course has widened my perspective on life and made me more objective in assessing problems, situations and people. HSPS is really broad in scope and extremely relevant. My advice to anyone interested in studying it is: be inquisitive - question everything, even your questions.